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I'm also Catholic, and was looking at becoming a Trappist monk a few years ago. I just wanted to mention that there are many forms of prayer, many of which are nothing like meditation. But there is at least one form of prayer, known as contemplative prayer, which is very like meditation. It consists primarily in being in the moment, stilling your mind, quieting your heart, sitting still, and breathing deeply. It's an ancient form of prayer dating back to the desert fathers. The purpose of it is to allow God to overtake you, to be receptive to him. Sometimes this happens, but many times, it's just you sitting in silence with God, often, not even really aware of him. This is by far my favorite form of prayer. Unfortunately, most people never seem learn about it, and instead are taught to be chatty, repeating rote prayers, or rattling off prayer requests or whatever. |